Griffins Game #57 * Home Game #31 * AHL Game #910

Season Series: 2-3-0-0 Home Series: 2-1-0-0 Road Series: 0-2-0-0
All-Time Series: 70-37-6-10 All-Time Home Series: 40-18-2-2 All-Time Road Series: 30-19-4-8

Monsters at Griffins
Sixth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Van Andel Arena…Grand Rapids is 16-6-1-0 (0.717) against Cleveland in the past two seasons and has points 11 out of the last 14 games overall (10-3-1-0, 0.750)...In the past five years, the Griffins are 26-10-2-1 (0.705) against Cleveland and have outscored them 135-102. On home ice during that span, Grand Rapids is 14-5-1-0 (0.725) against the Monsters with a +20 scoring margin (67-47)...The Griffins have points in seven of the last eight home games against Cleveland (6-1-1-0)...Cleveland’s power play is tied for fourth in the AHL at 22.9% but its penalty kill is tied for 28th at 77.0%...The Monsters are 11-13-1-2 on the road and the Griffins are 11-14-4-1 at home...The Monsters are the third-most frequent opponent of the Griffins, as this game marks the 124th meeting between the two franchises (Milwaukee 209, Chicago 190)...Griffins head coach Ben Simon is a native of the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights...Defenseman Wyatt Newpower played for Cleveland during the 2020-21 season.

Last Time Out
Jared McIsaac buried the game-winner in overtime to propel the Griffins to a 2-1 win over the Rockford IceHogs in the 11th annual Purple Community Game at Van Andel Arena. Just 17 seconds into the overtime period, McIsaac deflected in Danny O’Regan’s pass from the left circle to secure the win. McIsaac recorded his third goal and 14th assist of the year in the contest. Joel L’Esperance achieved a pair of significant milestones, tallying his 20th goal of the season and his 100th in the AHL. With an assist on L’Esperance’s goal, Matt Luff extended his point streak to three games (1-2–3).

Roster Shake Up
- March 5—G Alex Nedeljkovic reassigned by Detroit
- March 6—G John Lethemon reassigned to Toledo (ECHL) by Detroit from Grand Rapids; F Trenton Bliss recalled by Grand Rapids from Toledo
- March 9—F Kirill Tyutyayev recalled by Grand Rapids from Toledo (ECHL); D Steven Kampfer traded by Detroit to Arizona for future considerations
- March 10—F Austin Czarnik recalled by Detroit
- March 11—F Drew Worrad recalled by Grand Rapids

This Date in Griffins History
2012: Sparked by a Gustav Nyquist goal that gives him 55 points on the season, tying the Griffins’ rookie scoring mark held by Glen Metropolit, Grand Rapids earns a 5-2 victory at Houston.

Didn’t go as Planned
The Griffins halted their season-high four game winless streak on Friday, as the team tries to catch the Iowa Wild for the final playoff spot. Grand Rapids finished its five-game homestand last Saturday with a 1-2-2-0 record. The Griffins return this week with four games in six days, which includes three games in three days this weekend. Grand Rapids is in seventh in the division and is now nine points out of a playoff spot with one game in hand (16 remaining) on fifth-place Iowa. Grand Rapids has points in 14 of its last 23 contests (10-9-3-1, 0.523). Since the new year, Grand Rapids has lost in regulation just 10 times through 27 games (12-10-3-2, 0.537).

Momma We Made It
On Thursday, Adam Erne became the 200th Griffins alum to compete in the NHL and on Saturday, Alex Chiasson became the 201th alum to play in the NHL. Since 1996, 201 Griffins players (25 goalies, 176 skaters) have gone on to play at least one game in the NHL. Some of the more accomplished members of the Griffins’ alumni class include 18 Stanley Cup champions, two members of the Triple Gold Club — Stanley Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, World Championship gold medalist — (Niklas Kronwall and Valtteri Filppula), one Calder Trophy winner (Moritz Seider), one Calder Trophy finalist (Jimmy Howard), and two Lady Byng winners (Pavol Demitra and Jiri Hudler).

Griffin Tenders
On Saturday, John Lethemon became the sixth goaltender to man the Griffins’ pipes this season, tying the franchise record for most goalies used that was set in 2005-06. That season, Jimmy Howard made his pro debut and was a stalwart for Grand Rapids, appearing in 38 games for the AHL’s regular season champions and earning a spot on the league’s All-Rookie Team. Joey MacDonald (32), Drew MacIntyre (13) and Logan Koopmans (1) saw action along with Chris Osgood (3) and Manny Legace (1), who both came to the Griffins on conditioning stints from Detroit.

Rewrite the Record Book
Taro Hirose has been known for his passing abilities throughout four seasons with the Griffins. The former Michigan State Spartan has continued to climb the Griffins’ all-time assist leaderboard, and with 116 assists he now ranks seventh in franchise history, passing Jiri Hudler (114). Hirose is now six assists from tying Nathan Paetsch for sixth all time. Hirose is as consistent as they come, as he has had at least 22 assists in each AHL campaign in his career. The Calgary, Alberta, native has totaled a team-leading 33 helpers in 56 games this year. In addition, his 16 power-play assists this season are tied for 13th in the AHL. Hirose also leads the roster with 46 points (13-33—46) in 56 appearances.

Danny Boy
Danny O’Regan is starting to find a rhythm with the Griffins after joining the team on Dec. 19. After exploding for three points (2-1—3) in his Griffins debut, O’Regan had just three points in his next 12 games from Dec. 28-Feb. 15. However, the German-born forward enjoyed a five-game point streak (2-5—7) from Feb. 24-March 4 and has 11 points in his last 10 games (4-7—11).

Just Keep it Close
The Griffins have had their ups and downs this season, but they have excelled at winning close games. In fact, Grand Rapids is 13-1-4-2 (0.800) in games decided by one goal and 5-0-4-0 in overtime contests. In comparison, the Griffins are just 10-26-0-0 (0.278) in games decided by two or more tallies. In the 2021-22 season, the Griffins finished with a 13-7-6-2 (0.607) mark in games decided by one goal.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Austin Czarnik—Five game-winning goals are tied for sixth, three short-handed goals are tied for first
Simon Edvinsson—21 assists are tied for fifth among rookie defensemen, 26 points are tied for fifth among rookie defensemen, five goals are tied for sixth among rookie defensemen
Albert Johansson—Five goals are tied for sixth among rookie defensemen
Joel L’Esperance—11 power-play goals are tied for fourth, 181 shots rank fourth

Milestones
Joel L’Esperance bagged his 100th AHL goal on March 10 against Rockford. Ben Simon coached in his 300th game as head coach for the Griffins on March 3, making him just the second coach in franchise history to reach 300 games.
Austin Czarnik—Two assists from 200 as a pro
Albert Johansson—One game from 200 as a pro
Alex Nedeljkovic—One win from 100 in the AHL
Wyatt Newpower—Two game from 100 as a Griffin
Danny O’Regan—Four points from 300 as a pro
Chase Pearson—Two assists from 50 as a pro, in the AHL and as a Griffin
Donovan Sebrango—Two games from 150 as a pro
Dominik Shine—Two goals from 50 as a pro, as a Griffin and in the AHL, two points from 100 as a pro, in the AHL and as a Griffin
Elmer Soderblom—Two games from 150 as a pro

Photo by Cleveland Monsters